Posted
by
timothy
on Tuesday December 03, 2013 @10:06AM
from the x-files-pales-by-comparison dept.

Pseudonymous Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto (whether that name represents one person or several) is believed to hold many millions of dollars in Bitcoin. Various attempts have been made to pin down Nakamoto's identity; the IB Times reports today that a (sadly anonymous) analysis points to George Washington University economics professor Nick Szabo, based on textual analysis and some other clues, such as Szabo's expertise in digital currency and his role as founder of GoldCoin. Szabo's blog Unenumerated is fascinating reading, whether or not this analysis is right.

The only real way to confirm somebody is Satoshi is to log into the Bitcoin forums, use Satoshi's acccount, and "reveal" who they are. Then again, that might just be done by hacking into the forums (although the passwords are hash-encoded.... so it is a bit harder).

The main problem is that Satoshi has dropped off the radar and hasn't posted for a long, long time.... hence the speculation.

You'd think he'd diversify into traditional investments, or a range of cryptocurrencies with actually noteworthy features like Peercoin, Primecoin, or Zerocoin. Not yet another alt coin clone with absolutely nothing creative at all.

I'd suspect it was Satoshi if he blew us all away with in-chain smart contracts, not just following the botnet-friendly Scrypt crowd.

It's referred to as the 'genesis block', which was created by Satoshi Nakamoto. So far, those bitcoins have not been circulated and are still 'owned' by Satoshi Nakamoto. He could come out of obscurity tomorrow by using one of those bitcoins and adding a message to it.

When I hear about bitcoin's founder I am reminded of a homeless man I met in Palo Alto in the 1990's, in his 30's or 40's. He used to stand on the street chanting weird things and you would think he was insane, which he was. But if you talked to him, you'd realize he was pretty smart too. Anyhow, he told me about how he was getting his P.H.D. in Economics from Yale, but they rejected his thesis which was basically about private currency, as his professors equated it with counterfeiting and he subsequently went semi-mad according to him. This guy was a smart homeless guy but also a little crazy, his shopping cart had various gadgets powered by car battery, and I think there was a reason he was hanging out in the valley at that time. Find him, and you will find the creator of bitcoin.

When I hear about bitcoin's founder I am reminded of a homeless man I met in Palo Alto in the 1990's, in his 30's or 40's. He used to stand on the street chanting weird things and you would think he was insane, which he was. But if you talked to him, you'd realize he was pretty smart too. Anyhow, he told me about how he was getting his P.H.D. in Economics from Yale, but they rejected his thesis which was basically about private currency, as his professors e

Yeah, I had my comment moderated as funny, which it is, but I'm serious about this guy if I had to pick someone I've met in my life it would be him (and I know a guy who has the Nobel Prize in Economics). But there are a few street people who are maybe so smart they get hay-wired.

This guy used to stand in alley with his eyes rolled up, between the bookstore and the music shop chanting "Help me gus! Save us gus!" I used to think he was saying God, not gus, but I asked him about it. I actually didn't know

Yea, genius and madness tend to go hand in hand - same traits cause both. There's been research into it, and if i recall right they pretty much concluded it's almost like flip sides of a coin.

History shows us as well, many geniuses of our past were... A bit out of their mind, but because of that they are also geniuses -> they think about things no one else would, they see those things differently and approach differently.

I believe part of the reason genius minds go a bit mad, or some genius persons seems

What is the motivation to hide behind a pseudonym as the creator of Bitcoin?

I can think of a few things. Reporters bothering you, other idiots bothering you. Become a target for people to steal your bitcoins. Government might become more interested in you (NSA). And worse, relatives asking for money because they think you are rich.

I think you mean "another guy who also wasn't named Satoshi Nakamoto".

Although thinking of it, maybe his name really is Satoshi Nakamoto, and he made up that pseudonym story so that no one would guess he was the one who created Bitcoin; after all, who would use his own name as pseudonym?

If the person you want to write about is the real Satoshi, he'd obviously say no. If the person you want to write about the real Satoshi, he'd probably also say no. He might also ask you not to hassle him.